IDA records released under the Freedom of Information Act show its officials setting out concern about housing to the Department of Housing.“As you can guess IDA’s clients are worried about the housing and in particular the rental situation across the country and I [would] just like to get an update from you on where you feel our rental policy is at and any new developments,” said one email from Tommy Fanning, IDA head of strategic policy.
Cork is a big inward investment centre given the presence there of large tech groups such as Apple and pharma groups such as Pfizer. “The southwest team and I met with [company named redacted] ourselves a few weeks ago and they did paint a very unfavourable picture,” Mr Doyle said in an email to officials.“We often have companies complaining of challenges attracting talent but most companies seem to find innovative ways around this. Unfortunately if the solution is to attract talent from overseas, they are inevitably hit with the issue of locating housing for them.
Despite record job creation this year, business people say privately that questions over rising rents and the lack of housing supply are an ever-more urgent consideration for companies considering Ireland as an investment base.